The Smartphone Film Scanner offers Lomographers and analogue lovers a quick, easy and portable way to scan 35 mm films. Simply turn on the Smartphone Film Scanner back-light, insert your film, take a photo of it using your smartphone and use your phone's camera to edit and share!
In an instant, you'll end up with a digital version of your film which can be archived, emailed, posted on social media sites or printed. It also offers unrivaled speed and convenience when compared to other film scanners.
The Smartphone Film Scanner has been developed by a team of experienced analog engineers to offer a quick and easy solution for scanning and sharing 35mm photos!
The scanner is designed with a direct light panel which illuminates your film; scanning each film is made as easy as capturing a photo on your phone. It scans at a quality perfectly capable for archiving, sharing and even printing!
The Smartphone Film Scanner is compatible with all iPhone models and selected Android Smartphones* too. We're currently working on a free integrated Lomoscanner App and both iPhone and Android versions of the App will be made available.
The Lomoscanner App will allow you to edit negative scans into positives, stitch together scans into seamless panoramas (perfect for photos taken with the Spinner 360° or Horizon cameras) and animate 35mm analogue movies shot using the Lomography LomoKino camera. What's more, you can share those photos with all your friends with just the click of a button.
The Smartphone Film Scanner is small and can easily be transported. Whilst back-lit photo scanners also exist for scanning negatives, these scanners are large and cumbersome. The Smartphone Film Scanner is small enough to fit in your bag or rucksack, allowing you to scan films away from home. It's 100% mobile and easy to use!
The Smartphone Film Scanner allows you to scan all different kinds of 35mm film imaginable. You can easily scan color negative, color slide and black & white films. It's also great for scanning those unconventional photo formats including longer panoramic shots (such as those taken with the Lomography Horizon and Spinner 360° cameras) and 35mm analog movies (such as those taken with the Lomography LomoKino).
Check out A Lomography Guide to Scanning to learn more about the art of scanning.
A selection of prints made from scans taken with the Lomography Smartphone Scanner:
Uncrate
"Used to be scanning in film required either a flatbed scanner with a special compartment inside or a standalone scanner - neither of which were particularly cheap. Soon you'll be able to do it with nothing but your phone and the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner."
CNET Asia
"We think this is a brilliant way of making film scanning more easily accessible. You only need your smartphone to be on your way to digitizing your childhood photos and other old memories captured before the days of digital cameras."
Ubergizmo
"Talk about bridging the old and new schools of thought, where analogue photographers and retro-enthusiasts are able to jump aboard the digital bandwagon without missing a beat."
Engadget
"The fine folks over at Lomography are at it again, but this time, they're out for something more than just quirky. In fact, this may be useful for many more people than those obsessed with retrofied / distorted photography."
Pocket-lint
"Lomography aims to bring analog into the new age by acting as a film scanner that can easily hook-up with a smartphone, allowing users to scan, edit, and print 35mm film."
Got a question about the Lomography Film Scanner? We've prepared a list of frequently asked questions that will hopefully answer your query!
The Smartphone Scanner is designed to work with all kinds of 35mm film. It will scan color negative, color slide and black & white films.
The Smartphone Film Scanner will work with all iPhone models (including the latest iPhone 6). Moreover, we are confident that the Scanner will work with most smartphones which have the camera in the upper side/corner or in the top-center; these include phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note2. It also works with the iPad Mini. There are also some general rules that you can follow to see whether your phone is compatible.
The only cameras which we believe might possibly have a problem with the Smartphone Film Scanner are those with a camera button on the side. This is because the Smartphone scanner uses clamps at the side of the phone to hold the phone in place. So your Smartphone should preferably have a touch-screen camera rather than a button on the side.
The Smartphone Scanner uses 2 AA batteries.
It's possible to scan 35mm movies and panoramic photos using the Smartphone Film Scanner App. You simply take a photo of a frame of your movie or part of your panorama; then take another and another until done. The App will then be able to stitch together the individual frames into a movie or longer panoramic photo.
244 grams
14cm (5.51 in) x 7cm (2.75 in) x 13cm (5.11 in)
If you are looking for apps that allow you scan at the high quality using your iPhone, we have been recommended that the following work very well. They allow you to save images in TIFF format and export without losing much image resolution. Please note that these apps will not be able to invert negatives though; you’ll need to use another app for that (see below).
If you are scanning a negative, you’ll need to invert it. As well as Photoshop Express, there are a couple of apps which are specifically designed to invert photos.
If you are just scanning slides, these apps can help make your scan. Of course, you can also use the standard iPhone camera for this too.
Photo Editor for Android works very well for scanning your film at a quality suitable for sharing on social media. We also recommend Helmut, a great scanning app that has been specifically developed for Android Phone users.
See more details in these Lomography Online Magazine articles!
→ How To Make Scans Using Photo Editor on Android
If you are scanning slides, these apps can help make your scan on Android. Of course, you can also use your standard phone camera for this too. Some of these may have an invert function too, some do not have this function; that’s why we recommend Photo Editor because it can also definitely invert too.
If you would rather edit your scans on computer, that’s also perfectly possible too. Editing, cropping and inverting your scans using Photoshop is quite a simple process. This guide explains how to do it.
Are you still quite unsure about scanning? Don’t worry, we have prepared a special site to address all your questions and needs about scanning. Visit The Lomography Guide To Scanning!
